Canal Street Chronicles
Walker Clement joins us for the first ‘Interview with the Enemy’ of the 2024 season.
The New Orleans Saints will open the 2024 season at home in Caesars Superdome against the Carolina Panthers. To open our ‘Interview with the Enemy’ series for this season, we are joined by Walker Clement of Cat Scratch Reader to preview this Sunday’s matchup between the two NFC South rivals.
NJ: As the play caller of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, now Carolina Panthers HC Dave Canales’ offense ranked 32nd in rushing yards per game (88.8). With rookie RB Johnathon Brooks set to miss the first four games of the season on the PUP list while he recovers from a torn ACL, how confident are you in the Panthers’ ability to develop a run game early in the season?
WC: Chuba Hubbard is a good NFL back. He may not be an in-his-prime Derrick Henry level player, but he can certainly run the ball behind a good offensive line. Miles Sanders is also due to show some improvement in a real offense. But that’s the backs.
The real question is how the new look offensive line is going to work. The team dropped over $70M on new guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis and moved a perfectly fine guard in Austin Corbett to center. The talent is there, but we haven’t seen them all in action together yet.
Personally, I think it is going to work as long as Bryce Young can keep any sort of pressure on the defense with the passing game.
NJ: Given what you’ve seen throughout the offseason, should the league be on alert for a second-year Bryce Young?
WC: He scored a touchdown on 100% of his preseason drives. You can’t compete with that.
On a serious note, we really have no idea what this offense is going to look like or how Young is going to perform in it. The offensive line has a lot of new pieces in new places and limited experience even practicing together. If the center—namely center Austin Corbett who is coming back from back-to-back knee injuries—holds then we’re in business. That’s the business of finding out if Young can be the real deal. Right now, we simply do not know enough to have confidence in any opinion about the quarterback.
NJ: How do you expect the Panthers to adjust their game plan around the Saints’ revamped pass rush?
WC: They’ve done a lot of tight end shuffling since roster cuts last week. I’m expecting a fair few looks at seeing what the starting offensive line can do on their own, followed by a lot of chip blocks and six-man protections in the second half.
NJ: In your opinion, is there a Panthers player who hasn’t received warranted recognition for their offseason that the Saints should watch out for in the season opener?
WC: Jalen Coker is a UDFA rookie wide receiver who made a splash in a surprisingly deep wide receiver corps for the Panthers...
